25th March 2003

Four Avolites Pearl lighting consoles were used in a spectacular guerrilla style projection and lighting assault on the landmark BT Tower in central London, marking the UK launch of rival phone directory service 11 88 88.

11 88 88’s PR company PR21 had the idea. They approached Laser Grafix to supply the hardware and technical expertise to co-ordinate the projection and lighting attack. In turn, Laser Grafix’s Richard Hawkins asked the irrepressible Darren Parker of Essex-based DPL Lighting Production to provide lighting crew, trucking and power (from Vince Maddix of Phase Hire) for this audacious expression of cheek! Parker, who relishes the challenges of all exciting and off-beat missions – jumped at the opportunity.

The 625 ft high BT Tower was bombarded with massive, piercing shafts of green light (the colours of Irish-based 11 88 88 Conduit – the client), while the number was projected vertically in white up it’s side. The spectacle was clearly visible from over 10 miles away!

Hawkins specified four 7.5 tonne flatbed trucks, and loaded each with six 7Kw Space Cannons, an Avolites Pearl 2000 and DMX distribution. Each truck also towed a 100 KVA generator. Laser Grafix in addition loaded their Hardware For Xenon projectors onto four separate trucks.

The sixteen crew, led by Hawkins and managed by Parker, tested all their lighting gear, patched and part-programmed the desks before leaving the warehouse. Parker chose Avo Pearls because he needed a lighting desk that was reliable and very easy to use ‘live’, on the fly, under intense pressure.

The Space Cannons were de-lamped for the road journey, and both lighting and projection trucks drove to central London, keeping in close contact to co-ordinate their arrival.

Everything moved at lightening quick speed once they reached site. The eight trucks pulled up in the streets, two at each of the four corners of the block housing the BT Tower’s base. Gennies roared, the crew leapt into action, lamped up and fired up the Space Cannons, using the Avo desks in live mode to focus and direct the beams onto the tower.

An extra frission of excitement permeated the project, knowing that the whole thing could be scuppered by the police or security services at any time, with the country on a knife edge on the eve of war with Iraq …… and several tonnes of strange looking hardware being moved suddenly into the centre of town. The stunt was initially planned to run for a minute – just enough time to allow the amassed press and media to get the shots they needed.

With the BT Tower successfully captured, crew, equipment and media decamped to Battersea Power station and repeated the process!